Perhaps I should stop using my red plates for photography!
I don’t care what they say, omelets are hard to make! ( I have no idea who they are! I have a friend who is always quoting “they.”) In this case, “they” may refer to chefs. Did you know that many chef/restaurant owners, when hiring prospective chefs for their restaurants, will ask them to cook an omelet to test their skills as part of the interviewing process? True.
It is really difficult to make an omelet and turn out a finished product that is both delicious and beautiful. So many things can go wrong. The eggs can stick to the pan, and once that happens, it’s impossible to flip over without tearing. Then it falls apart, and before you know it, you need to scramble everything together to salvage the mess. Now you are left with some odd looking version of scrabbled eggs instead of an actual omelet. There may have been one of those “skillet” dishes at one of the breakfast chain restaurants accidentally developed this way!
It can end up overcooked, and brown on the outside. You’ve seen what I’m talking about. The edges are all dried out and flaky. The outside has a sheen of hard, brown crust on it. I have news for you, if the outside of the omelet no longer has any sign of yellow showing, it is overcooked. Slightly browned is fine, but there is a big difference between browned and brown. The only good news about the hard exterior on an overcooked omelet is that the cheese is usually completely melted on the inside! Now all you have to do is to cut off the crust. That’s pretty!
So, how is it done?
I was actually fortunate enough to have been taught how to make a perfect omelet when I worked at The Spring Mill Cafe when I was young. It is the ability to maintain the discipline required to follow the very simple steps, instead of rushing through the process, that is the difference between success and failure! The disadvantage for the home cook verses the chef in a French restaurant is that most of us at home do not have a pot of clarified butter on hand at all times and we may not have restaurant quality pans. But, lets play perfect world….
A 7 1/2 inch saute pan is ideal. This is a stainless steel All-Clad 7 1/2 inch Saute pan. At the cafe, as with many professional kitchens I have had the honor of spending time in, the cookware is not a sparkling brand name, but instead wonderfully worn from years of seasoning over hot flames.
Speaking of hot flames, that is the key to the process. It is essential that you have a hot pan from the start. As I stated previously, in many restaurants they will add clarified butter to a hot pan. At home, I add a large scoop as illustrated in the below picture. The amount is not measured and is, gulp, far less than would be used in most restaurants, however, I also use 2 eggs instead of 3. The reason for this is that it also makes the process easier! Yes, I am still a chicken! No pun intended!
It is important to note that when cooking almost anything, you should prepare all of your ingredients before you begin. When you are preparing an omelet everything moves very quickly, so have your eggs beaten in your bowl, add salt and pepper to taste. I did not add milk or cream, although you certainly can if you prefer.
For a simple cheese omelet, I suggest grating your own cheese. It is very easy to do, however bagged shredded cheese is faster.
Once your ingredients are all set to go and your pan is hot, add your butter to the pan. The butter needs to melt and start to bubble, but not brown before adding your eggs.
Then pour your eggs into the pan. The eggs will cook rapidly at the edges.
The eggs begin to bubble at the edges because of the high heat. The edges will cook immediately leaving uncooked eggs in the center. Take a rubber spatula and lift the edges lightly to allow the uncooked eggs in the center to seep under the cooked eggs at the edges.
The center will begin to look scrunched up as above. Allow to cook a few seconds and repeat. Once the egg liquid is 75% cooked, take a metal spatula and carefully flip over completely. Take your cheese and add to the center. Fold your omelet in half and slide off of the plate. The cheese will melt in a minute while it rests.
Voila!
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